X-ray base construction



y 1980 M. H. CRAFT 2,938,694

X-RAY BASE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 15, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MILFRED H. CRAFT ATTORNEY M y 3 1960 M. H. CRAFT X-RAY BASE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1957 INVENTOR. MILFRED H. CRAFT United States Patent X-RAY BASE CONSTRUCTION Milfred H. Craft, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Ritter Company, Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 15, 1957, Ser. No. 672,027

3 Claims. (Cl. 248-158) This invention relates to X-ray equipment and more particularly to a supporting structure for an X-ray unit of the type employed by dentists in dental radiography or what is commonly called radiodontics.

Dental photography with the use of X-rays has been in widespread use for some time and X-ray units for radiography are commonly found in most dentists offices. The use of radiodontics or the photography of teeth has become virtually essential to the practice of a dentist. For the sake of compactness and convenience, most of these units have an X-ray head mounted on a retractable or folding bracket in such a manner that the head may be swung easily between an operative and stored position.

Most dentists ofiices today are limited in available space, both in respect to room size as well as by the large amount of necessary dental equipment which must be installed. This space limitation becomes most serious when already over-crowded oflices are sub-divided to provide additional private space. The location of such large equipment as an X-ray unit, which does not interfere with the movement of the dentist and his assistants and which is readily accessible when needed, therefore presents a serious installation problem. Furthermore, the electrical wiring required to connectthe various, separately mounted components of presently available commercial units further restricts the freedom of movement in a small oflice. Regardless of the size of the X-ray unit, its location adjacent the dental chair often means that the dentist must constantly move around this obstacle in order to change his position relative to the patient.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention tion to provide a new and improved support for an X-ray unit of the type used in dental radiography.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved support for an X-ray unit in which the various components of the unit are mounted in a unitary structure with a base and which permits the unit to be easily installed and connected to a source of power in a simple and direct manner.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved support for an X-ray unit which may be positioned flush with the wall in a dentists oflice, which offers a minimum of interference with the movement of the dentist, and which may be readily and easily operated.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved support for a dental X-ray unit which is simple in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture, and which may be quickly and easily assembled with a minimum of effort while presenting a pleasing outward appearance.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of an X-ray unit incorporating the invention;

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Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the base for the X-ray unit of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the base of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of Fig. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is'enlarged view broken away of an upper portion of the unit of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 7--7 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown an X-ray unit, designated generally by the numeral 11, which is of the type employed by dentists for dental radiography. The dental X-ray unit 11 comprises a base designated generally by the numeral 12 in which is mounted the lower end of a tubular supporting post 13. Adjacent the upper end of post 13, an X-ray control panel designated generally by the numeral 14 is fixedly mounted which contains the indicating and control devices employed in the operation of the unit. A folding bracket designated generally by the numeral 16 is mounted for limited rotation on the upper end of post 13 in a manner to be explained hereinafter and is provided at its forward end with a yoke 17, mounted for swiveling movement thereon. The yoke 17 is arranged to carry a pivotal X-ray head 18 which, as is well known, is employed to direct an X-ray beam on the subject to be radiographed.

The X-ray unit 11 may be energized in the conventional manner by an electrical conductor 19 suitably connected to a source of power (not shown) and this conductor is brought up the interior of post 13 and through an opening 20 in the post wall so that they may be connected to appropriate terminals in the control panel 14. The conductor connections have been omitted in Fig. 1 for clarity.

The portions of the unit 11 consisting of the base 12, post 13, and control panel 14 are assembled so as to be confined laterally and therefore present a vertically elongated pencil-like silhouette. Thus, the unit may be snugly installed against the wall in the dentists office so as to offer a minimum of interfering projections to the operator. The folding bracket 16, of course, will fold into a retracted position adjacent the wall and thus provide easy movement from the stored to the operative position (Fig. 1).

Referring now to Figs. 3-5, the base 12 comprises a bottom plate 21 and an upstanding side wall designated generally by the numeral 22. The side wall contains a substantially flat rear wall portion 23 which extends generally vertically, and a forward portion 24, which is substantially U-shaped, as shown in Fig. 3. The rear wall portion 23 is arranged so as to be positioned flush with the lower part of the room wall while the forward wall portion 24 faces outwardly into the room.

In order to support the base 12 on the floor, the bottom plate 21 is provided with raised portions 25 (Fig. 7) at each corner having tapped openings 26 for accommodating adjustable legs 27 by which the height and level of the unit may be adjusted. The plate 21 is also provided at each corner with bored bosses 28 through which suitable mounting screws or bolts (not shown) may be inserted for fixedly securing the base 12 to the room floor.

snugly accommodate the lower end of the supporting post 13 as shown in Fig. 5.

(Fig. 3), also preferably formed integral with the bottom The socket 29 is preferablyi strengthened by means such as radially spaced webs 3-25 plate 21. As shown best in Fig. 4, the socket bore 31 contains a shoulder 33 for positioning the lower end of extends generally tangential to the socket bore-31*s'o as to provide an opening-35 therebetween: A pairof cylindrical clamping blocks 36,- 37, having oppositely disposed arcuate corners 38, 39,- respectively, are loosely positioned in the bore 34 and may be pulled together by means of a threaded bolt '41 which passes through a bore 42 in block 37 to engage within athreaded recess 43 in block 36. The arcuate corners 38, 39, when thus brought together, tightly engage in clamping relationship the outer wall of post 13 positioned within the socket 29. 7

As shown inFig. 3,-the electrical conductor 19 is brought into the base 12" through a notch 44 in the side wall portion 24. It should be understood that, if desired, the conductor may be concealed by providing an opening (not shown) in the base bottom plate 21 so that the conductor 19 may be brought through the plate 21 from beneath the base.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the conductor 19 is led from the inside of base 12 to a radial passage 46, provided in the lower portion of the side wall of socket 29, and into the interior of the tubular post 13 so that it may be connected, as-described above, to the terminals in the control panel 14. In order to secure the conductor 19 to the base and prevent the conductor from being broken or disconnected from their terminals by any inadvertent strain, a clamp 47 (Fig. 4) is provided adjacent the socket 29, as shown, which is secured in clamping en-' gagement with the conductor by means such as screws 48.

Referring now again to Fig. 3, a cover plate 49 is provided for the base 12 which, in the preferred embodiment, is generally U-shaped cross-sectionally in forwardly decreasing cross-sectional area. The cover plate 49 is provided with an interrupted marginal flange 51 which terminates at each end at a U-shaped rear end or edge 52 of cover plate 49. The cover rear edge 52 lies in a vertical plane which corresponds to the plane of the rear wallpo-rt-ion 23 on the bottom plate 21 when the cover is assembled as shown in Fig. 2.

The cover plate rear edge 52 contains a centrally located recess 53 and a layer or cover of resilient material 54, such as rubber or the like, is secured to the top of the cover plate by means such as by an adhesive. The rubber cover 54 is provided with a flanged opening 56, split as at 57, which is arranged centrally over the cover plate recess 53. Thus when the cover plate is assembled as shown in Fig. 2, the flanged opening 56 and cover plate recms 53 are so positioned as to permit free access to the socket bore 31.

The cover plate 49 is clamped to the plate side wall 22 by means of a trim channel or clamp 58 which is substantially U-shaped both longitudinal-1y and cross-sectionally. The trim clamp, in the assembled position, has its lower flange 59 in marginal engagement with the bottom plate 21 and its upper flange 61 pressing the cover plate flange 51 and overlying edge portion of the cover 54 into gripping engagement with the upper edge of the forward side wall portion 24.

The trim clamp 58 is'also provided with a recess 62 at one end to accommodate the electrical conductor 19 and is secured at each end by suitable means such as screws 63 (Fig; 2) inserted through openings 64 in the clamp into threaded engagement with tapped recesses 66 in the side wall 22.

Thus, when the lower'end of post 13 has been positioned in the base socket 29 and fixedly clamped by means of the bolt 41 the cover plate 49 together with the attached cover 54 is positioned on the base plate 21 and secured thereon as described above by means of the channel 58. As shown in Fig. 2, the post is received within the cover plate recess 53 with the split cover flange 56 moving normally into snug encircling relationship with the post as permitted by the resiliency of cover 54. In the preferred embodiment an annular finishing member or preferably metal ring 55 may be positioned on the post so as to enclose the cover flange 56 as shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the ring 55 adds materially to the appearance of the base 12.

When the supporting post 13 and base 12 have been assembled in the relationship of Fig. 2, as described above,

the legs 27 may be vertically adjusted, if not doneso previously, to position the base 12 at the proper height and level. Themounting screws (not shown) may be inserted withinthe bosses "28to fixedly secure the base 'The' control panel 14 is mounted onthe upper end of the post 13 by means such as brackets 67 positioned adjacent panel openings 68, 69 in the panel top and bottom walls 71, 72, respectively, through which the post 13 extends. Screws or the like may be used to secure the post 13 to the brackets 67; The circuit conductor 19 which passes through the post opening 20 is connected to the appropriate terminals provided in the panel. As the base 12 is preferably positioned flush against the room wall, the control panel 14 is provided with a substantially vertical rearwall 73 which lies in the same plane as the base rear wall portion 23 when the unit has been assembled in the relationship of Fig. 1. Thus both the base 12 and control panel 14 may be mounted flush against the sidewall of the room in an inconspicuous and convenient manner. If desired, the control panel 14 may be secured to the room wall by securing its rear wall 73 thereto with suitable means such as bolts. However, if desired, both the base 12 and panel 14 may be spaced from the room wall, if desired, by using relatively long bolts to attach the panel rear wall 73 to the room Wall. With the novel construction of the support, therefore, an X-ray unit has been provided which is formed as a compact structure, which may be easily installed and which will occupy a minimum of space in the dent-ists office.

After the control panel 14 is secured to the post 13,

a folding bracket support 74 positioned on the end of the bracket 16 opposite the head 18 may now be positioned over on the upper end 75 of post 13 so as to support the bracket in an operative position. This connection may be made in any suitable manner such as shown in.

Fig. 6. V In the illustrated embodiment of Fig. 6, the support 74 is provided with a bore 76 having a threaded portion 77 of reduced diameter. An arcuate groove 79 is located within the bore 76 which serves to limit the swiveling movement of the support 74 and consequently the bracket 16. A rotatable bearing tube 81, provided with a bearing flange 82, is located within the post 13 and has a threaded upper end 83 engageable with the support bore portion 77. A lug or screw 84, suitably secured to the outer wall of post 13 is accommodated within the groove 79 when the post upper end 75 is inserted and threadedly engaged with the support bore portion 77. The support 74 may be properly mounted on the post 13 only if the lug 84 is received within the groove 79 and by means of the bearing tube 81 and the tube flange 82, the support 74 and attached folding bracket 16 may be rotated to the limited extent defined by the contact of the screw 84 with each end of the groove 79. It should be understood that the support 74 will slide freely on the upper edge 78 of post 13 at which point substantially the entire weight of the bracket 16 is supported.

Although there has been shown a novel supporting structure used primarily to support an X-ray unit of the type used'in dental radiography, it is not necessarily 5 limited thereto. It is within the purview of this invention that the supporting structure be used on any type of device which may be supported in an elevated position either with or without a control panel. For example, it may be used to support lighting equipment, platforms, scientific equipment, etc.

While there has been shown and described the preferred forms of mechanisms of the invention, it will be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made therein, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A support stand for an X-ray unit comprising, in combination, a post for supporting said unit, a base, said base including a bottom plate, a substantially vertical side wall on said bottom plate having a substantially straight portion forming a rear wall and a U-shaped portion forming a forward wall, a socket positioned adjacent said rear wall for supportedly receiving one end of the post, means for clamping said one end of the post in said socket, a cover plate having an opening and a marginal flange corresponding to said forward wall portion, a clamp of trim material U-shaped longitudinally and cross-sectionally for clamping said cover plate marginal flange to the upper edge of said forward wall portion with said post extending through said cover plate opening, said trim clamp arranged to conceal said forward wall portion in the clamping position.

2. A support stand comprising, in combination, a base having a socket, a post adapted to be received in said socket and clamped therein, a cover plate for said base having a cutout extending inward from its rear edge through which said post extends and a yielding cover secured to said cover plate, said yielding cover extending over said cutout and having an upstanding yielding split ring adapted to be slipped around said post after the post is in its socket.

3. A support stand in accordance with claim 2 wherein a finishing ring encircles the post and may be shifted downward along the post after the cover plate is in position to encircle said split ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 785,481 DOlier Mar. 21, 1905 827,199 White July 21, 1906 847,439 Ritter Mar. 19, 1907 1,864,993 Fehn June 28, 1932 1,927,796 Hays Sept. 19, 1933 1,984,570 Emmons Dec. 18, 1934 2,455,131 Masterson Nov. 30, 1948 

